Welcome to the Xpress podcast, a podcast that brings city and statewide perspectives to SF State news. 

Jack Davies, sports editor and Arman Archouniani, staff reporter for the Golden Gate Xpress sat down with Macaria Moore who recently became an All-American in High Jump for the Women’s Track and Field team. Moore talks about her time at SF State and her experiences from track. 

Introduction

Jack: Hi. My name is Jack Davies, and I’m the sports editor of Golden Gate Xpress,

Arman: And I’m Arman Archouniani, a sports writer on the staff and we will be our host on this episode of the Chomp Pod.

Preview of the show 

Jack: For the second episode of the semester, we will be talking about the Golden State Warriors playoff matchup, San Francisco Giants start to the season and recap SF State Athletics from this semester so far.

Arman: Later in this episode, we will have a guest from the SF State women’s track and field team Macaria Moore, she became an All American in the high jump in the indoor track and field season. But first we will start off talking about the Warriors.

News Brief 

Jack: The Warriors finished off the regular season really strong with an 8-2 stretch. And it was their best stretch of the season after struggling for a good majority of it being mediocre for a lot of the season. But they finished with a 44 and 38 record which was good for the six seed in the West. And that was really good to see when they were 36 and 36 in mid-March. So they needed every win to make the playoffs as they barely beat out the LA Lakers by one win for the sixth and final guaranteed spot in the Western playoffs. They will be matched up with the Sacramento Kings who are the three seed and playing in the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, which is an end to the longest drought in the NBA.

Arman: Yeah, this team has been an up and down roller coaster. But this feels like a series that might be the most energetic and electrifying series of the NBA Playoffs’ first round. These are the two top-scoring offenses in the entirety of the league. I think this is ultimately the matchup that the Warriors wanted, getting a Kings team that’s you know, they’re young and fun to watch. But they’re ultimately still very inexperienced in the playoffs.

Jack: Yeah, the kings had a great regular season, but like you said, without really much experience in the playoffs at all, it’s kind of tough to pick them against the Warriors who have obviously a lot of playoff experience. But I’m happy for the Kings in Northern California that we have another team in the playoffs and actually all four California teams made the playoffs this year so that’s pretty cool, it’ll be fun to see the battle for Northern California play out when the series starts on Saturday in Sacramento. So now we’ll move on to the Giants. SF Giants are currently 5-7 and will hope to make the playoffs if they’re missing out on the playoffs last year. They have some new additions such as Sean Manaea, Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger. With the new rule changes across the MLB, It has been interesting to see them play out so far this year. And a significant impact has been cutting down the game times by roughly 30 minutes so far. 

Arman: Yeah, the rule change, There’s been a lot of speculation about it. Some people like it, some people don’t. I mean, some pitchers are basically still getting used to the pitch clock, especially for the Giants were ranked fourth in pitch clock violations this season and we’re only what 12 games into the season. I mean, for fans, they’re gonna have a lot of frustrations this season with the Giants. It just seems like one day they’re looking like the best hitting team in the league and then another day, they just completely fall apart and score one run. I think that’s the same for the pitching staff, they’ve been having some problems in the bullpen. We saw this week that there was just complete meltdowns with the bullpen going from walk after walk after walk, and it’s going to be a really long season for the Giants if they don’t build some type of stability. 

Jack: Yeah, it definitely seems like a rebuild type of season for the Giants. But hey, at least not the Oakland A’s who are in an even worse situation right now. Unfortunately for me being an A’s fan. If you guys want to learn more about the rule changes, I wrote an article for Golden Gate Express and talked to the SF State baseball team. So go check that out. Next up is our SF State segment. The SF State baseball team is on a hot streak right now having won seven of their last eight games, and they currently have a 21-12 record with a month ago before the playoffs. As a team the Gators are leading the conference in batting average and on base percentage and are also second in runs scored on the pitcher’s mound. They’ve been about middle of the pack statistically but they do have the second fewest errors as a defense. The Gators have also fielded one of the best offenses overall in Division Two baseball posting the eighth highest batting average among the 248 D-2 schools. The next stretch of home games will be from April 19-30 Which will be the final seven games of the season at home for them. 

Arman: Yeah, the softball team has also been on a hot streak. They’ve won eight out of their last 11 games, getting them to a record of 19 and 17. Kai DeLeon has led the way for the Gators with a batting average over .370 which ranks 9th in the entirety of the conference this week. They will continue their hot streak against Cal State East Bay at home and then they will head down to Chico State for a four game series. The men’s and women’s track and field teams are also competing this weekend the men’s team will compete at Cox Stadium at home at San Francisco State and the women’s team will be competing in Azusa, come out to support the team this weekend, everyone. 

Jack: Yeah, definitely good to support the Gators. And lastly, we will have our guest Macaria Moore. 

Main Story 

[interview audio begins] 

Arman: Alright, so today on this episode of the Chomp Pod we are with Macaria Moore.  

Macaria: Hello. 

Arman: Track star, our SF State Gator. So just kind of talk to me about how you kind of started track, your upbringing. How was that like? 

Macaria: So basically, I was playing three sports in high school, I was playing field hockey, basketball on track. I was kind of forced to do track. I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t want to do it at first, but like, just started doing track and running. I hate running. I’m not gonna lie I hate running, my coach was  just like “go over there”. So I was like, I didn’t know what high jump even was when I first started. But honestly, they didn’t teach me how to do it. They were just like go jump so I went and I started jumping and I guess it was a natural talent or something. 

Arman: Yeah, so just, I mean, you got an All-American award, just talk to me about that experience. How was that like? Was it a surreal moment? How was that like?  

Macaria: To be honest, I tend to downplay a lot of things. It’s pretty cool Now that I think about it, I literally have an All-American trophy sitting on my desk in my dorm room, but it was like intimidating, it was really intimidating. Because, I’m not used to having competition at my level, if not better, you know so it was fun, it was pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting to go to Nationals. 

Arman: And then just how was the transition from like field hockey and then getting forced into track and field? I mean, it seems like what’s been going good for you now, right? 

Macaria: To be honest, I feel like the conditioning that we did in field hockey kind of helped with track. I was like, peak athleticism. 

Arman: Who forced you into track? What was his kinda like, talk with you? How did that go? 

Macaria: My father. 

Arman: What was his kinda like, talk with you? How did that go? 

Macaria: It was kind of like, either you do sports or be in clubs, you’re not going to just go to school and then go home? That’s pretty much that’s pretty much how it went. 

Arman: And then your collegiate career started here. Correct? And how has it been in SF State so far? What’s the balance like between getting taking care of your schoolwork and then going, obviously, on the track? 

Macaria: Time I really honestly, my time management right now is not great. But the team they are like my sisters, they honestly, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t probably wouldn’t be showing up to practice every day the way I do, and homework wise, honestly, I like to be on top of my stuff. I do my homework when I first get it. I don’t really procrastinate so that’s, that’s pretty much how I balance it out. 

Arman: And then is there like a certain support group that you have other than your teammates, obviously getting you to practice but outside of the team? Is there anyone that you kind of highlighted to be like, Oh, I’m going to them for help. 

Macaria: There’s a group of friends that I hang out with every day. They are the and they go, they go to my meets. They’re like super supportive. Yeah, they’re just super supportive. They asked me questions about what track, like, how it works and all that. But honestly, they show up and I appreciate them very much for that. 

Arman: And then in high school, you’re also pretty good at high jump. I mean, you got your league champion two years in a row, just talk to me about how it went from translating from high school to then go into the college level. 

Macaria: In High School, I didn’t really have any like, humbly, I didn’t have any competition, really. And honestly, I just went and jumped, to be completely honest. That’s, that’s pretty much that’s pretty much it, I just went jumped. I didn’t really usually when I do jump, my brain goes blank. 

Arman: What made you decide to go to SF State? Was there like, was there a visit that you took and you were like, Oh, this is a school for me? Or how did that go? 

Macaria: Before I even like, came here to the school. I visited San Francisco a couple of times. And I just really love the city. I like the diversity. I like the culture here. That was like, like, my number one reason why I chose this city because I was always like, if I don’t end up living here, I want to go to school here, you know, so and I emailed the coach and he emailed me back, so here I am. 

Arman: Was there a certain culture change that got you from San Diego to here? 

Macaria: The culture here honestly it’s a little bit different. But to be honest, it is not really  much different, to be honest. 

Arman: Do you find yourself like just thinking hey, I’m an All American or like, what’s the next step in terms of just going through a practice and just being like, Hey, I’m an All American I could do literally whatever I want on this track. 

Macaria: It honestly it slips my mind a lot. Honestly, I don’t think about it too much, but I should think about it more often and I should think about, be proud of myself of what I’ve accomplished. Because, like I said, I don’t really, I don’t usually think about it too much. I just go to practice and do what I need to do and the stats follow. 

Arman: What’s the feeling like when you’re going to practice and it’s just, you got all your teammates around. And, you know, you might be feeling a little stressed out with school and what gets you going. 

Macaria: Like I said before, my sisters are like my teammates, we all joke around and they kind of just lighten my mood. I can’t I can’t be mad at practice, because I’m around them, you know? 

Arman: Is there a certain coach that kind of, if you’re maybe not on top of everything that you’re doing? Is there like a certain coach that kind of gets you going? 

Macaria: We have, we have two coaches. There’s the sprint coach, and then the jumps coach, my jumps coach, if he sees something’s wrong, sets me aside, and we talk privately. And usually, like I said, I’m usually not even I’m smiling the whole practice, because I’m just a playful person like that. So my coach, he sets me aside. We talk privately and if something’s wrong, he like, gives me solutions. Or it’s just like, I’m here to support you. 

Arman: You also in the indoor season got All-West region, USTFCCCA. How was that feeling like? I mean, just going from different seasons, you’re winning these awards? 

Macaria: To be I don’t even know I’m winning these awards until I see them on Instagram so it was pretty cool. I was like, hey, another title. 

Arman: Does it ever feel surreal in terms of like, you know what you’re doing, but it doesn’t feel like you know what you’re doing? 

Macaria: Sometimes I do think about it and I’m like, wow, like, when people bring it up, like, when I was at Nationals, the ref was like, “Yeah, you guys are all winners in my eyes. Because you know how many people in the country like want to be here right now, but didn’t make it” that really kind of just opened my mind, like, I’m actually actually good at what I do because there’s so many people that want my place. 

Arman: Do you ever think you take it for granted sometimes that you’re just like, oh my god, I’m an All American. 

Macaria: I feel like I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m not as appreciative as I should be. 

Arman: Now, one last question. Before we let you go, where do you see yourself in the next four to five years? 

Macaria: I’ve thought about doing track like after graduating, like at a club or something, or maybe even going into like a team or something for it, but graduating, obviously, I do want to graduate and hopefully, hopefully, sometime in the next three years, I’m a national champion. 

Arman: Ladies and gentlemen, you guys heard it here  first Macaria is going to be our national champion.  

Macaria: Let’s hope so. 

Arman: So thank you so much, Macaria for getting on.  

Macaria: No problem.  

Arman: Good luck in the future. 

Macaria: Thank you so much. 

End 

Jack: All right, that’ll conclude this episode of the Chomp Pod. Thank you all for listening and stay tuned for our next episode releasing in a few weeks. Follow us on Twitter @TheChompPod and Golden Gate Xpress @GGXNews.